Major League lacrosse star Andrew Goldstein with Philly out youth and fellow lacrosse player Braeden.

Major League lacrosse players from around the country are convening in Philadelphia Sunday for the first annual Courage Game, held in conjunction with the NCAA Championship Weekend. The event was co-founded by two-time Dartmouth “All American” AndrewGoldstein and Washington-based coach NickWelton to “encourage and support gay youth, rebuke bullying and promote wider education and awareness of LGBT equality within the sport of lacrosse.’

LeSean McCoy is still very hurt about being traded from the Philadelphia Eagles.

That was the clearest conclusion anyone could reach about McCoy’s comments to an ESPN.com reporter after Shady pretty much labeled Chip Kelly — the man who traded him – a racist, in a nonsensical diatribe that only served to worsen relations between the races.

“He wants full control,” McCoy said to reporter Mike Rodak. “You see how fast he got rid of all the good players. Especially all the good black players. He got rid of them the fastest, that’s the truth. There’s a reason…it’s hard to explain with him. But there’s a reason he got rid of all the black players – the good ones – like that.” Read more »

Apparently upset over the fact that her car was towed and she was forced to pay for it, McHenry insulted the anonymous worker’s job, education level and appearance, telling her “I will fucking sue this place,” “Makes my skin crawl even being here,” and, “So I could be a college dropout and do the same thing?” McHenry’s final words in the video: “Lose some weight, baby girl.”

It’s a very disturbing scene, the kind that can instantaneously vaporize your faith in humanity. And yet ESPN has only suspended McHenry for a week. Many on social media are saying that isn’t good enough, and are calling for the network to terminate McHenry (hashtag #firebrittmchenry). Read more »

After two years of tanking, this is all the Sixers have to show for it so far.

The 76ers owner gave a state of the team address the other night, and one thing became perfectly clear to me: None of those fancy courses Josh Harris took at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School included Public Speaking 101. I’d love to think Harris knows what’s going on in his own organization, but I haven’t seen a Sixer that stiff since Shawn Bradley.

Everything else with the Sixers is a muddled mess. The team concluded its second year of Tank Fest with another 20-win season, which is supposed to be good news. Losing for two straight years was supposed to mine more talent from the NBA draft. And as Harris said – between the countless “uhs” and “you knows” – it takes about four really good players on the floor at the same time to field a championship caliber team.

So where are the Sixers right now? They have exactly ONE reliable player in their foundation: Center Nerlens Noel, who rebounded from a shaky NBA start to get into a Rookie of the Year conversation. The other semi-foundation player is 7-foot Joel Embiid, who sat an entire season with an injury, but delighted folks in YouTube videos with shooting displays prior to a game he wouldn’t play. Who knows about Embiid?

The remainders are folks who may or may not be bench players in the NBA, and maybe not even bench players on good NBA teams. There are no players wearing Sixers jerseys right now who one can pencil in as starters next season alongside Noel and Embiid. Read more »

A snarky tweet to my Twitter account the other day make me think hard on the subject of what makes a good sports fan. And I have come to the conclusion that the more we bitch and moan about the state of our teams, the better the fan we are.

If you live in the Midwest and just read that line, you most likely are rolling your eyes and dismissing the Philadelphia sports fan, as per usual, as rude, crude and miserable, the type of person who would – dare I drag this tired, worn cliché out again for the millionth time – yes, boo Santa Claus. But I can’t help it if we view our sports world through second level thinking and a bigger prism.

The tweet said the following: “Yeah, @mikemiss975 likes to rip all the Philly sports teams. But when they win, he’ll be right back on the bandwagon.”

Janay Rice, left, looks on as her husband, Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice, speaks to the media during a news conference in Owings Mills, Md. on May 23rd, 2014.

A state lawmaker from Clinton County is calling on Pennsylvania’s professional sports teams to take a tougher stance against domestic abuse.

Democratic state Rep. Michael Hanna said he is planning to introduce a resolution in upcoming weeks to officially urge the state’s teams to institute a “zero-tolerance” domestic violence policy. Read more »

We are done waiting ’till next year: It is next year. It’s Opening Day in Major League Baseball, and the Phillies start the season with a home interleague game against the Boston Red Sox. Cole Hamels starts for the Phils.

So what kind of day is it going to be? What kind of year is it going to be?

The Phillies, on the other hand, have been upfront that they view this as a rebuilding season.

Club president Pat Gillick candidly said on multiple occasions that he doesn’t expect the Phillies to contend in 2015 or ’16. “I don’t think it’s in the cards. I think somewhere around 2017 or 2018,” he said.